640 Saint Patrick’s Purgatory
canonized in 1297. They were placed behind the high
ALTARof the upper chapel and displayed to the people of
Paris during HOLYWEEKand to important visitors. Some
relics, such as a cross of victory or a crown of thorns,
were carried in the great Parisian processions.
Designed and built in a very short time by an
unknown architect, the Sainte-Chapelle was consecrated
on April 26, 1248, just before Louis’s departure on a Cru-
sade the following June. It was a reliquary church on two
levels, the upper level having immense and dazzling
STAINEDglass windows, including a ROSE WINDOW. The
windows included biblical themes and the history of the
relics of the Passion. Considered a prime GOTHICexam-
ple of the mid-13th-century court style, the Sainte-
Chapelle was frequently imitated. A major and
heavy-handed restoration was accomplished in the 19th
century. Some of its medieval contents are known today,
especially IVORYwork, jeweled book covers, and small
reliquaries. An abundant staff of canons and court offi-
cials were commissioned by Louis to serve as caretakers
of the Sainte-Chapelle.
Further reading:Yves Bottineau, Notre-Dame de Paris
and the Sainte-Chapelle,trans. Lovett F. Edwards (Lon-
don: Allen, 1967); Robert Branner, The Painted Medallions
in the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris(Philadelphia: American
Philosophical Society, 1968); Alyce A. Jordan, Visualizing
Kingship in the Windows of the Sainte-Chapelle(Turnhout:
Brepols, 2002).Saint Patrick’s Purgatory Saint Patrick’s Purgatorywas
a visionary text written by an English Cistercian monk
about 1190. In it a knight, Owein, entered a particular
well God had revealed to Saint PATRICK, in order to
cleanse himself of his sins and attain HEAVEN. This well or
Saint Patrick’s purgatory was situated on an island in IRE-
LAND. Inside it the knight passed through several regions
where souls suffered infernal tortures in order to fulfill
the penance earned by their terrestrial SIN. The qualities
and length of their passage were proportional to the grav-
ity of their sins but could be lessened or cut short by the
PRAYERSof those still living. After enduring such purga-
tion, souls emerged to an earthly and then a heavenly
PARADISE. Owein escaped the torments due him by invok-
ing the name of Jesus Christ and becoming a monk. This
was a popular tale and was translated into several lan-
guages including one by MARIE DEFRANCE. A well on Sta-
tion Island in county Donegal in Ireland became
identified with Saint Patrick’s Purgatory and was reputed
to be this entrance to penance and salvation. It became a
great site of PILGRIMAGEfrom the 12th century.
See alsoPURGATORY; VISIONS AND DREAMS.
Further reading:Jean-Michel Picard, trans., Saint
Patrick’s Purgatory: A Twelfth Century Tale of a Journey to
the Other World (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1985);
Howard R. Patch, The Other World, According to Descrip-
tions in Medieval Literature(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1950); Shane Leslie, Saint Patrick’s Pur-
gatory(Dublin: Colm O Lochlainn, at the Sign of the
Three Candles, 1961).Saladin(Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, al-Malik al-
Nasir Abu l-Muzaffar)(1137/38–1193) Kurdish sultan of
Egypt, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty
The son of al-Ayyub, a minister of Zengi and NURAL-DIN,
Saladin was born at Tikrit in IRAQabout 1137 or 1138. Of
Kurdish origin, he was at first in the service of Prince
Nur al-Din, who was trying to reunify the Muslim world
to oppose the crusading Europeans. Once they achieved
Syrian unity in 1154, Nur al-Din sent Saladin with his
uncle, Shirkuh (d. 1171), to conquer EGYPT. It was there
that his military career began to flourish. Shirkuh held
the post of vizier of CAIROby 1169. After his death, Sal-
adin succeeded him, and in 1171 he restored Sunni rule,
ending two centuries of Shiite FATIMIDrule in Egypt. He
subsequently seized power in Egypt, risking the enmity
of Nur al-Din in DAMASCUS, who was preparing to attack
him when he died in 1174.
Saladin immediately sought to succeed him. Branded
as a usurper by the partisans of Nur al-Din’s young son,The Gothic exterior of the Sainte-Chapelle rising in the center
of Paris (Courtesy Edward English)